Training Log - Tuesday, June 28, 2011 (Pune, India)

The Le Meridien, my home for the next 3 days in Pune, India.

I have been doing some serious traveling since leaving Huntsville, Alabama Sunday morning at 11 AM. First, I made my way to Atlanta before connecting to Amsterdam, Netherlands followed by Mumbai (Bombay), India. Luckily, I got to do all of this flying in business class, courtesy of my considerate employer. I arrived in Mumbai, India Monday shortly before midnight local time after about roughly 24 hours of travel. While I was certainly treated like a king on my entire trip, I am not a great sleeper on planes, so when I made my final connection to Pune, India on Tuesday morning at 10AM, I was operating on about 3 hours of sleep in almost three days. So what did I do, when I finally got the chance for a three hour rest period? I went for a run. I had to burn some of those calories I accumulated while wining and dining in business class;-)

I had really hoped I would be able to connect with the local culture and people by going for a run in the local neighborhood, like I always always do when I travel for business or pleasure. However, while I was stunned by the some of the beauty in and around Pune, the (for Western standards) uncommonly high volume of traffic sharing the few lanes available coupled with the high level of air pollution due to the local industry made it highly advisable to utilize the athletic amenities our hotel (see above) had to offer.

So instead of running through the city, I had to settle for a treadmill workout that seemed just as humid and hot indoor as the outdoors. For some reason, the treadmill I had chosen would only maintain the pace I had selected if I ran at a reasonable incline (minimum setting of 3.0 to maintain pace) which seemed really strange. However, since I had vowed to run at least 10 miles, I ended up doing a nice 10 mile hill workout working at least just as hard if not harder and sweating just as much as if I had gone for a run outdoors.  After an hour and twenty-nine minutes, I had logged 10 miles at an average incline of 3.5, not too bad. My clothes were soaked and after weighing myself before and after the run, I realized that I had a sweat rate of 2lbs (1 liter) per hour. That's not just gross but crazy. Anyway, I made sure I drank plenty of bottled water following my workout.

As a reward for this workout and as a post workout dinner, I have chosen restaurant on the roof of our hotel serving traditional Indian cuisine. I can't wait to chow down on some chicken curry with rice and naan.

Post-run dinner at the rooftop restaurant of our hotel.